My studies are starting soon, but I cannot travel to the UK in time. What should I do?

Your CAS statement includes a latest date you can enrol or resume your studies at QMUL. Check the specific date on your CAS for your latest date to enrol. Sometimes students are unable to travel to the UK in time to meet this deadline. For example, you might not get your immigration permission in time if you apply shortly before you need to travel and there is a delay in processing your application. You might also be delayed for illness, personal difficulties or issues in your home country which are beyond your control.

If you cannot arrive at QMUL in time, you need to contact your academic school at QMUL before travelling, to see if they will exceptionally allow you to arrive late. By enrolling late you will miss important induction sessions, module selection meetings, and teaching, and you will need to arrange with your school to catch up. If they will exceptionally allow you to arrive late, your academic school will need to liaise with QMUL Admissions to ensure that a sponsor note is added to your CAS, stating that your deadline has been extended. Without this you may encounter problems trying to enter the UK.

While you are waiting to travel to the UK, ask your academic school if you can have access to the induction and academic information which you are missing, so that you can try to not fall too far behind. You can also use the information on our website to prepare for arriving in the UK, for example infomration about arriving in the UK, accessing healthcare, opening a bank account, managing your money, working, and university life.

Please note missing essential teaching and induction activities due to joining your programme late cannot be used as grounds for an ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ claim if you encounter academic problems later in your studies.

If your school will not allow late arrival, you can ask whether your place can be deferred until the next academic year.

If you were unable to attend the Welcome Programme, you can see the recordings of the essential information sessions on the 'new students' web page.

Applying for a replacement 30 day entry clearance sticker

It is important to check that your immigration permission will allow you to arrive later than planned. If you have been granted immigration permission which is longer than six months, your single use entry clearance sticker will only be valid for a 30 day period. If you now cannot enter the UK within that period you must:

Apply to the visa application centre for a replacement sticker

Pay a fee of £169

Provide your biometric information again

You do not need to make a whole new Tier 4 application.

If you are anew QMUL studentand you are not allowed to enrol late, please contact the admissions team dealing with your application to see if you can defer until next year. The contact details for the appropriate admissions team will be listed in correspondence related to your application to QMUL.

Warning:If the university will not allow you to enrol late,do not travelto the UK. You will not be allowed to enrol, and it is likely you will not be allowed to enter the UK using your Tier 4 entry clearance. The university will notify the Home Office that you will not be allowed to enrol.

If the university notifies the Home Office that you will not be allowed to enrol, the following will happen:

If your immigration application has not yet been decided, it will be refused, as your CAS will no longer be valid. You may wish to contact the visa application centre and withdraw your application before it is refused so that you do not have a refusal as part of your UK immigration history.

If your immigration application has been granted, but you have not yet travelled to the UK, your immigration permission is likely to be cancelled. If you try to travel to the UK, you are likely to be refused entry.

If your immigration application has been granted and you are already in the UK, the Home Office should curtail (cut short) your immigration permission to 60 days. During these 60 days you can travel home or try to find a new programme and make a new Tier 4 (General) Student application to start that programme.

Disclaimer:Law, regulations and policies can change quickly. The information on our website is given in good faith and has been carefully checked but QMUL cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. QMUL is not responsible for the content or reliability of the linked websites which are provided for further information.